TODAY IN HISTORY
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On this day in history .. Thursday, May 17, 2012
0218
- 7th recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet
0352
- Liberius begins his reign as Catholic Pope replacing Julius I
0884
- St Adrian III begins his reign as Catholic Pope
1525
- Battle at Zabern: duke of Lutherans beats rebels
1527
- Pnfilo de Narvaz departs to explore Florida
1536
- Anne Boleyns 4 "lovers" executed
1544
- Scot earl Matthew van Lennox signs secret treaty with Henry VIII
1579
- Artois/Henegouwen/French-Flanders sign Treaty/Peace of Parma recognizing Spanish duke van Parma as land guardian
1620
- 1st merry-go-round seen at a fair (Philippapolis, Turkey)
1630
- Italian Jesuit Niccolo Zucchi, 1st to see 2 belts on Jupiter surface
1631
- Earl Johann Tilly attacks Maagdenburg
1648
- Emperor Ferdinand III defeats Maximilian I of Bavaria
1672
- Frontenac becomes governor of New France (Canada)
1673
- Louis Joliet & Jacques Marquette begin exploring Mississippi
1678
- King Charles II & Louis XIV sign secret treaty
1712
- Maximilian Emanuel of Bavaria honored as "sovereign of Netherlands"
1733
- England passes Molasses Act, putting high tariffs on rum & molasses imported to the colonies from a country other than British possessions
1742
- Frederick great (Emperor of Prussia) beats Austrians
1744
- French army takes Austrian Netherlands
1750
- -18] Tax revolt in Gorinchem
1756
- Britain declares war on France (7 Years' or French & Indian War)
1787
- English slave ship Sisters, from Africa to Cuba, capsizes
1792
- 24 merchants form NY Stock Exchange at 70 Wall Street
1794
- Hard frost in southern New England
1803
- John Hawkins & Richard French patent the Reaping Machine
1804
- Lewis & Clark begin exploration of Louisiana Purchase
1809
- Papal States annexed by France
1814
- Denmark cedes Norway to Sweden (Natl Day)
1814
- Norwegian constitution passed by constitutent assembly at Eidsvoll
1837
- Royal Decides installs the Weapon of Belgium firm(ly)
1845
- Rubber band patents
1846
- Saxophone is patents by Antoine Joseph Sax
1848
- Premier earl Schimmelpenninck resigns
1849
- Fire destroy Centrum in St Louis Missouri
1853
- Thorbeckes liberals win 2nd-Parliamentary election
1862
- Battle of Princeton WV, ends, about 128 casualities
1863
- Battle of Big Black River Bridge, MS
1864
- Battle of Adairsville Georgia, Union forces Confederates to retreat
1871
- Indians fighter Gen Sherman escapes in ambulance vs Comanches
1872
- Bohemian Club incorporated
1875
- 1st Kentucky Derby: Oliver Lewis aboard Aristides wins in 2:37.75
1876
- 7th US Cavalry under Custer leaves Ft Lincoln
1877
- Edwin T Holmes installs 1st telephone switchboard burglar alarm
1881
- 7th Kentucky Derby: Jim McLaughlin aboard Hindoo wins in 2:40
1881
- Frederick Douglass appointed recorder of deeds for Wash DC
1881
- Revised version of New Testament
1883
- Buffalo Bill Cody's 1st wild west show premieres in Omaha
1884
- Alaska becomes a US territory
1890
- Clyde Fitch's "Beau Brummel," premieres in NYC
1890
- Comic Cuts, 1st weekly comic paper, published in London
1890
- Pietro Costanzi's opera "Rustic Chivalry," premieres in Rome
1894
- 19th Preakness: Fred Taral aboard Assignee wins in 1:49
1895
- W G Grace completes his 100th 100 v Somerset at Bristol
1898
- Camp Merritt forms in Presidio [see 0503]
1899
- Victoria & Albert Museum foundation laid England
1900
- British troops relieve Mafeking (Cape Colony)
1903
- Cleve Indians beat NY Highlanders 9-2 in Columbus Ohio
1904
- Maurice Ravel's "Shhrazade," premieres in Paris
1905
- Waseda U of Tokyo defeats LA High School 5-3 in baseball
1906
- Switzerland's Simpion Tunnel open to rail traffic
1909
- White firemen on Georgia RR strike to protest hiring blacks
1910
- Canada sets the designs for the 1-50 coins
1911
- 36th Preakness: Eddie Dugan aboard Watervale wins in 1:51
1915
- 40th Preakness: Douglas Hoffman aboard Rhine Maiden wins in 1:58
1915
- Cubs George "Zip" Zabel relieves with 2 outs in 1st & winds up with 4-3 19-inning win over Brooklyn in longest relief job ever
1915
- Last liberal British govt of Asquith falls
1915
- National Baptist Convention chartered
1916
- British Summer Time (Daylight Savings), 1st introduced
1920
- 1st De Havilland double-decker flight (London) lands in Schiphol
1920
- 1st flight by Dutch airlines KLM (Koninklijke-Luchtvaart-Maatschappij)
1921
- Belgian-Luxembourg sign customs union
1921
- President Harding opens (via telephone) 1st Valencia Orange Show
1923
- Fire during closing day ceremonies at Grover Cleveland School (SC)
1924
- 50th Kentucky Derby: John Mooney aboard Black Gold wins in 2:05.2
1925
- Cleveland Indian Tris Speaker gets his 3,000th hit
1926
- Chiang Kai-shek is made supreme war lord in Canton
1926
- German govt of Marx takes power
1927
- Chicago Cubs beat Boston Braves, 4-3, in 22 innings
1928
- 9th modern Olympic games opens in Amsterdam
1930
- 56th Kentucky Derby: Earl Sande aboard Gallant Fox wins in 2:07.6
1932
- Congress changes name "Porto Rico" to "Puerto Rico"
1937
- Juan Negrin succeeds Largo Caballero as Spain's premier
1938
- Congress approves Vinson Naval Act, which funds a two-ocean navy
1938
- Radio quiz show "Information Please!" debuts on NBC Blue Network
1939
- 1st sports telecast-Columbia vs Princeton-college baseball
1940
- Germany occupies Brussels, Belgium & begins invasion of France
1940
- Nazi's bombs Middelburg/B IJzerdrat begins illegal defiance
1941
- Pennsylvania declares legal holiday to honor A's manager Connie Mack
1942
- Dutch SS vows loyalty to Hitler
1944
- -18] Allied air raid on Surabaja, Java
1944
- Chinese/US arm forces take Myitkyina Airport, Burma
1944
- General Eisenhower sets D-Day for June 5th
1944
- Operation Straightline: Allies land in Neth New-Guinea
1945
- 2 US P-47 Thunderbolts bomb Kiushu
1946
- KVP Labor/Communists win 1st post-WW2 Dutch parliamentary elections
1946
- Pres Truman seizes control of nation's railroads to delay a strike
1947
- "Street Scene" closes at Adelphi Theater NYC after 148 performances
1948
- Israel liberates Acre, Nebi Yusha & Telel-Kadi
1948
- Soviet Union recognized Israel
1949
- British government recognizes Republic of Ireland
1952
- 78th Preakness: Conn McCreary aboard Blue Man wins in 1:57.4
1953
- Patty Berg wins LPGA Reno Golf Open
1953
- Yanks & Browns use record 41 players in a game
1954
- Supreme Court unanimously rules on Brown v Topeka Board of Education reversed 1896 "separate but equal" Plessy Vs Ferguson decision
1955
- Dutch Govt of Drees resigns
1957
- Prayer Pilgrimage, biggest civil rights demonstration to date (DC)
1957
- School desegregation law, Brown v Board of education
1958
- 84th Preakness: Ismael Valenzuela aboard Tim Tam wins in 1:57.2
1958
- Emergency crisis proclaimed in Algeria
1959
- Sam Snead sets PGA record for 36 holes at 122
1960
- 1st atomic reactor system patents, J W Flora of Canoga Park CA
1961
- Castro offers to exchange Bay of Pigs prisoners for 500 bulldozers
1962
- Marin County withdraws from BART district
1963
- Bruno Sammartino beats Buddy Rogers in NY, to become WWF champ
1963
- Houston Colt .45's Don Notterbart no-hits Phillies, 4-1
1963
- US performs nuclear Test at Nevada Test Site
1964
- Mickey Wright wins LPGA Muskogee Civitan Golf Open Invitational
1964
- Phillies triple play Houston Colt .45s
1966
- KFDO (now KVIJ) TV channel 8 in Sayre, OK (ABC) begins broadcasting
1967
- Dylan's 1965 UK Tour is released as film "Don't Look Back"
1968
- European Space Research Org launches 1st satellite
1968
- Frank Howard belts record 8th HR in 5th straight game
1968
- US performs nuclear Test at Nevada Test Site
1969
- "My Wife, My Dog, My Cat," by Maskman & The Agents hits #92
1969
- 95th Preakness: Bill Hartack aboard Majestic Prince wins in 1:55.6
1969
- Balt, Cleve & Pitts agree to go from NFC to AFC in NFL
1969
- Russian probe Venera 6 landed on Venus
1970
- Hank Aaron becomes 9th player to get 3,000 hits
1970
- Shirley Englehorn wins LPGA Johnny Londoff Chevrolet Golf Tournament
1970
- Thor Heyerdahl crosses Atlantic on reed raft Ra
1971
- Stephen Schwartz' musical "Godspell," premieres off-Broadway
1971
- Washington State bans sex discrimination
1972
- Neth & China PR exchange ambassadors
1972
- Tottenham Hotspur wins 1st UEFA Cup in London
1973
- "Nash at Nine" opens at Helen Hayes Theater NYC for 21 performances
1973
- Joe Ferguson, hits the 6,000th Dodger home run
1973
- Senate Watergate Committee begins its hearings
1973
- Stevie Wonder releases "You are the Sunshine of my Love"
1973
- US performs 3 nuclear tests at Rifle Colorado
1973
- Angels outfielder Bobby Valentine breaks his leg trying to scale wall to prevent a Dick Green home run during a 5-4 loss to the A's
1974
- Bayern Mnchen wins 20th Europe Cup 1 at Brussels
1974
- Dmitri Shostakovitch completes his 15th String quartet
1975
- "Funky Gibbon" by The Goodies hits #79
1975
- 101st Preakness: Darrel McHargue aboard Master Derby wins in 1:56.4
1975
- 10cc releases "I'm Not in Love"
1975
- Mick Jagger punches a restaurant window, gets 20 stitches
1975
- NBC paid $5M for rights to show "Gone with the Wind" one time
1976
- 28th Emmy Awards: Mary Tyler Moore Show, Jack Albertson & M Learned
1976
- Earthquake in Uzbekistan: 1000's killed
1977
- Menahem Begins Likoed-party wins election in Israel
1978
- Lee Lacy hits record 3rd consecutive pinch-hit home run
1979
- -12F (-11C), on top of Mauna Kea, Hawaii (state record)
1979
- Emmy 6th Daytime Award presentation
1979
- Phillies beat Cubs, 23-22, on 50 hits with 11 HRs
1980
- 106th Preakness: Angel Cordero Jr aboard Codex wins in 1:54.2
1980
- Kumar Anandan balanced on one foot for 33 hours
1980
- Major race riot in Miami Florida - 16 killed, 300 injured
1980
- Paul & Linda McCartney appear on Saturday Night Live
1981
- "Inacent Black" closes at Biltmore Theater NYC after 14 performances
1981
- Islanders score 5 power play goals against Flyers in a playoff
1981
- Kathy Whitworth wins LPGA Coca-Cola Golf Classic
1983
- Israel & Lebanon sign a peace treaty
1983
- Stanley Cup: NY Islanders sweep Edmonton Oilers in 4 games
1984
- Cincinnati Reds Mario Soto throws 4 strikeouts in one inning
1984
- Mai Shanley, 21, (NM), crowned 33rd Miss USA
1985
- Les Anderson, catches record 97 lb 4 oz Chinook Salmon, off Alaska
1986
- "Chicken Song" by Spitting Image hit #1 on the UK pop chart
1986
- 112th Preakness: Alex Solis aboard Snow Chief wins in 1:54.8
1987
- "Stardust" closes at Biltmore Theater NYC after 102 performances
1987
- Ayako Okamoto wins LPGA Chrysler-Plymouth Golf Classic
1987
- USS Stark hit by Iraqi missiles, 37 sailors die
1989
- Longest Cab Ride Ever: 14,000 miles cost $16,000!
1989
- Napoli wins 18th UEFA Cup in Stuttgart
1989
- Nelson Mandela receives a BA from U of S Africa
1989
- Vincent Van Gogh's "Portrait of Dr Gachet" auctioned for $825M
1990
- Cheers' star Kelsey Grammer sentenced to jail for 30 days for DWI
1990
- Dow Jones avg hits a record 2,831.71
1990
- European court rules pension rights for both men & women
1990
- WIBC Bowling Queens won by Patty Ann
1991
- Lupita Jones, 23, of Mexico, crowned 40th Miss Universe
1992
- 38th Mazda LPGA Championship won by Betsy King
1992
- Expos Gary Carter is 3rd to catch 2,000 games (joins Boone & Fisk)
1993
- Intel's new Pentium processor is unveiled
1994
- Bakili Muluzi's UDF wins Malawi presidents/parliamentary election
1996
- Alicia Machado, 18, of Venezuela crowned 45th Miss Universe
1996
- Habib & Whitaker make 320 for 5th Cricket wkt, Leics v Worcs
1997
- 123rd Preakness: Gary Stevens aboard Silver Charm wins in 1:54
1997
- Sylvester Stallone weds Jennifer Flavin in London
1997
- WIBC Bowling Queens won by Sandra Jo Shiery-Odom
1998
- 44th McDonald's LPGA Championship
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